Feb. Midweek Ride
Midweek Ride Report, Wednesday 7th February 2018
Laverton/Buninyong
A motley crew of six riders gathered at the Laverton Shell servo on a warm morning, with promise of lots of heat to come. We had two things in common: firstly, we were looking forward to a pleasant ride somewhere to the west of Melbourne, and secondly, we had all failed to check with the designated ride leader for the day, before the ride, as to whether the ride was actually still on! As it turned out, it had been cancelled (hence the small number of riders who had shown up).
After fuelling and chats we decided to press on with a ride, and followed Burger down the Geelong Road, with moderately heavy traffic, eventually turning off to Little River. The relief on getting out of traffic hit me immediately and from then on we enjoyed pleasant roads, and generally quiet towns. Little River seemed full of old stone churches, then we skirted the dry and dusty looking You Yangs (Flinders Peak all of 364m above sea level), then past a huge cattle feedlot on to Anakie for a welcome drink and stretch.
On we rode, through nice scrubby forests, rocky outcrops and winding roads, past Steiglitz and a brief stop at the scene of Graeme’s unfortunate accident some years earlier, then on to Meredith and lunch at Buninyong. Things were getting pretty hot and it was a relief to sit, eat and reminisce in the shade outside the bakery. Our numbers were down to five, as Ken had earlier succumbed to woes with his dodgy knee and returned to Melbourne. Chat ranged over many subjects including stories of Burger’s trip with the Vincent club to their International Rally at the Isle of Man in 1999.
Our return took us through baking hot paddocks of dry grass, with relief on occasions from the relentless sun when we passed through forested areas. We passed Mt Egerton, through Gordon and other small towns and finally stopped for a farewell to Burger. Unfortunately we lost Greg at this point, as he had stopped earlier due to problems with “a bug in his helmet”.
From here on it was ride to survive as it was getting unpleasantly hot (we definitely should have checked with Ed!!), and my return trip was a lesson to me to avoid crowded freeways where there is no emergency lane.
Thanks to Burger, who lead us, and to Greg who kept us together (except for that bug!). Apologies to Ed, who, as the official ride leader, had decided to cancel the ride due to unfavourable weather, and with whom we should have consulted beforehand.
Midweek Riders Participants List 7/2/18:
Greg Costello 1975 Yamaha TX 750
Burger Drake 1976 BMW R100S
Graeme Wilson 1985 BMW K75C
Bill Washington 1986 BMW K75S
Ken Barry 2014 CF Moto 650 TK
Ivan? 2017 Moto Guzzi V9 Roamer 850